


I want to inspire you

by Handoverthebooty



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, Pearl being such a mom, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, and baby!Steven
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-25
Updated: 2016-07-26
Packaged: 2018-07-26 14:04:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7576831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Handoverthebooty/pseuds/Handoverthebooty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some sweet moments with Pearl and younger Steven.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> aAAAA ANOTHER SU STORY YAY.
> 
> alright so ive been in a not-so-good mood and worried also and i wrote this to cheer myself up :')
> 
> the idea goes to my friend calm surrender!!! !! srsly man ur an idea machine sO THANK YOU SO SO MUCH CONNIE!!!!
> 
> pearl is my favorite gem and im not sorry at all. and just...her...loving baby steven...is ...so?? good?amazing?? i ncredible?!!?! 
> 
> since another one of my fics is p much done, i figured id start this!! thisll be a short lil fic going through stevens life and basically itll just be pearl being a great guardian/mom and steven loving her what MORE COULD U NEED

Pearl swallowed as she walked out to greet Garnet, Amethyst, and...the child.

He was just over two months old. This would be her first time meeting him. She'd spent weeks and weeks, holed up in her part of the temple. But there wouldn't, couldn't, be any more of that. She'd promised Rose that she wouldn't hold a grudge against the child, and she wasn't.

She may be nothing with Rose now gone, but that wasn't his fault. Earthling children were as innocent as humans got. Although he wasn't human, not completely, he was still just a child. A baby.

She...she would try. For Rose. 

Amethyst and Garnet looked up at the light sound of her footsteps, and they both looked visibly surprised to see her again. Pearl smiled weakly.

She noticed a tightly wrapped bundle in Garnet's arms. That must be him.

"Ah, hello." She says, after the silence stretches on too long.

"Pearl! Took you long enough, geez." Amethyst snorted, nudging Pearl roughly in the side with her elbow. Garnet nodded, a small smile present on her face. Pearl exhaled softly in relief. At least they weren't angry at her. 

"I did take a while, didn't I?" She laughed, too high and too fake. Her eyes burned. "I...I apologize, I just needed time, but I, um, wanted to..."

"See the little man?" Amethyst asked, pointing over at the little ball of cloth and hair in Garnet's arms. 

"Yes. What is his name?" She replied tentatively, feeling ashamed that she didn't know. During Rose's pregnancy, she'd avoided the entire topic like the plague, and she hadn't been there for his birth. 

"Steven." Garnet answered. Like he'd somehow understood, the child gurgled quietly.

"Can I look at him?" She really hoped he took after Greg more. It was selfish, but she honestly didn't think she could take it if he bore a striking resemblance to Rose. 

"Sure," Garnet said. "On one condition. You have to hold him."

"Oh, uh- but-" She fumbles for an excuse, but Garnet is having none of it. She walks over and gently sets him in Pearl's trembling arms. He's light, really light. Unable to do much of anything else, Pearl finally looks, _really_ looks at the child. _Steven_.

He's got brown hair, so dark it's nearly black. He's got a lot of hair already, considering his age. Little strands curl against his forehead. His eyes are open and staring up at her. She hadn't felt this nervous since the _war_ , and at the hands of an infant, no less. The silence is beginning to get awkward, and she sees a few strands of hair getting in his eyes. She reaches up to brush them out of his face with a hand that's just barely shaking. 

He coos at her, a sound so soft and sweet, and she gasps, looking at Amethyst and Garnet, "He said something, oh, stars-"

"Calm down, P. 'S just baby talk." Amethyst is grinning, probably because of her ignorance. "It means he likes you. Hold your hand out to him."

"He...likes me...?"

She does what Amethyst says and holds out her hand, waiting to see what he'd do with baited breath. Her hands, while delicate, are big and long-fingered and make him seem all the more tiny. Steven makes the little cooing sound again, and reaches out, grabbing her index finger and clutching onto it with a surprisingly strong grip.

"Oh." She whispers, deathly still, unsure what exactly this meant. "Is this good?"

She hears Amethyst and Garnet laughing, and she looks at them with a pout, "What's so funny?"

"You are, dude. Don't take him so seriously. He's a baby, and can't really do much yet, but what he's doing right now means that he likes you!"

Garnet nods in agreement.

"He really likes me?" She asks, looking down at Steven with wide eyes. He blinks once, twice, and then _smiles_ , tightening his hold on her finger. 

All at once, it hits her, like a fatal blow to the gem. This child...Steven. He was hers. Well, hers, Amethyst's, Garnet's, and Greg's. It wasn't his fault that Rose chose to do this, and he wasn't a burden. Rose _made_ him, and in the few minutes she's interacted with him, she can already see Rose's kind heart was now his.

Pearl leans in close and kisses his forehead. It was foreign and new to her, but it just felt right. He was warm, and small, and _alive_ and, oh, she can't believe it took this long for her to do so much as acknowledge him. 

"Steven." She says, and the name has a weight behind it. A good one. He can't understand her yet, but his eyes are still trained on her like he's paying attention. "I don't...how did I ever think that I wouldn't be able to- oh, I'm talking to a baby, aren't I? How silly." She laughs, even as tears stain her cheeks, make her eyesight blurry. These aren't like the tears she's endured for the past two months. No, these are tears of relief, freedom, _happiness_. "Well, I guess I'll be silly for a minute. Steven, you're...you're going to be something extraordinary, okay? Please always know that."

She doesn't give him back to Garnet for a long, long time. Pearl cradles him close, sitting on the ground with her legs crossed to lay him down and just look at him, adoration mixed with just a hint of sadness. She coos at him when he coos at her, just to see the little smile light up his face. 

This was the happiest she's been in months. All because of Steven. Rose's baby. Well, Rose may not be here, but that didn't mean Steven didn't have anyone to care for him. He had Garnet, Amethyst, and Greg. He had Pearl, without a doubt. Pearl would make sure that he grew up loved and happy, and she knew that the others would do the same.

Steven didn't cry, not even once, while he was in her arms. Garnet said that it meant that he loves her already, and Pearl's chest swells with warmth and pride. 

She may not have been Rose's favorite, but maybe she could be Steven's.


	2. First Words

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and more already!!!

"I thought we only made cake for yearly birthdays, not monthly ones." Garnet mutters, spreading icing over a still-warm chocolate cake. 

"Ah, well," Pearl replies, swiping a hand across her brow. "That is the norm, but...Ten months old is still an important milestone, isn't it? Plus, this is the first time he can actually eat cake!"

Amethyst, who'd been blowing up a pink balloon, said, "I thought babies could eat cake at six months? And that's only for human babies. He could've probably eaten this a while ago, P, right?"

"He was barely teething." Pearl huffs. "You can never be too safe, you know."

Steven was sat in his high-chair, watching them all with an expression that was content as can be, occasionally laughing when Pearl got icing on her face, or when Garnet tried to use her hand instead of a spoon to stir the cake mix, or when Amethyst accidentally let a balloon go in the middle of blowing, watching it fly around the room and eventually land in the mixing bowl with a sad little deflated noise. 

Steven loved it, though, so it made Pearl's annoyance lessen a little.

Amethyst tied the balloon to his highchair, and the gems all laughed when he looked at the balloon like it was the most amazing thing he's ever seen, stars practically in his eyes. 

"Is the cake looking alright, Garnet?" Pearl asked, hurredly washing all of the bowls and plates they'd used to do this. Considering that they were on their third attempt, there were a _lot_ of them.

Garnet looked down at the icing-covered cake. The frosting looked melted, and the cake itself looked too small. "Looks great."

"Wonderful!" Pearl clasped her hands together excitedly.

"Celebrating each year they get closer to dying." Garnet hummed. "Humans are strange."

" Steven won't die." Pearl steadily ignores the edge of panic and doubt clouding her mind at the mere thought. "He's got Rose's gem, so I, I very much doubt that he could ever die, right?"

"Sure." Garnet shrugs, and Pearl feels momentarily frustrated at her fellow gem's vague nature. 

"Anyway, let's get back to the important thing! Steven's birthd- er, I mean, ten month old celebration!" Pearl says, slicing a tiny piece of cake and setting it on a plate, bringing it over to him. "Amethyst, you can have the rest of that cake."

"Aw, sweet!" Amethyst runs over, and in the process, bumps right into Pearl.

Pearl falls backward, hand moving instinctively to try and grab something stable. Her palm feels something _sticky_ and she has barely a moment to register that before the entire cake falls to the floor, and _all over her_.

A moment of total silence.

"Oh m-my-" She squeaks, wiping bits of icing out of her eyes. "It's all over me, I'm going to be sick- Amethyst, I blame you for this!"

"That's fair." Amethyst shrugged, looking down at the ruined cake with a teary expression. "Really wish I coulda had some of that cake though."

Pearl opened her mouth again, most likely to yell at Amethyst more, but a quiet little giggle distracted her. She looked over to where the sound was coming from, and saw Steven, looking over at them and laughing like this was the most entertaining thing he's ever seen. 

Pearl felt her bad mood ebb away almost immediately. She got up from the floor, trying not to grimace at the sticky feeling of the cake on her torso and legs, and playfully said, "Oh, this is funny, is it?"

More giggling. His slice of cake remains untouched.

"Your humor is awfully strange, little one." She laughs along with him, and Amethyst joins in, while Garnet smiles. "Reminds me of someone, actually. Who, though...?"

Oh. Rose. 

It...It reminds her of the things Rose would've found funny. Pearl sighs softly, moving to run a hand down her face. Too bad she'd forgotten that said hand currently had more than a little icing on it, and ended up getting even more of the repulsive mess on her face. 

Steven's giggling stops, and then, unbelievably, Pearl hears, "P-Puu-"

"Garnet." Pearl whispers urgently, latching onto Garnet's arm. "He's trying to say something!"

"This'll be his first word, then. Amethyst, look."

Amethyst joins them, face covered in chocolate, and Pearl _would_ berate her for eating something off of the floor, but she's too preoccupied with eagerly leaning in, waiting for Steven to say his first word. Hopefully this wasn't just him making more sounds, like the last eight or so times.

Steven's face is scrunched adorably, like he's trying really hard, and Pearl almost wants to give him space. Stressing a baby out wouldn't be good. 

"P-"

"Come on, Ste-man!" Amethyst claps. "You can do it!"

A few more tense moments.

Steven goes quiet. The three gems sigh in disappointment.

"Er, well," Pearl tries to sound optimistic. "Children can sometimes take years to speak! It's nothing new, I assure you."

"But he's not human." Amethyst replies. "And do you really wanna wait that long, P?"

"No." She admits. "But we will if we need to. A few years is nothing to us, is it?"

She thinks of Rose, and bites her lip so hard it hurts. 

If a few years isn't anything to them, then ten months is even less. 

"I'm going to go wash this cake off." Pearl says, quiet and dull. "Garnet, please make sure he eats, okay?"

She begins to walk away.

"Pur-el!" Steven's voice cuts into the gloomy silence of the room, and Pearl turns around so quickly she almost gets whiplash. 

"What did he just say?" She asks, eyes as wide as saucers.

"Purrr..el!" Steven says, looking straight at her and looking proud of himself.

Pearl covers her mouth with one hand. Amethyst cheers, and Garnet claps.

His first word...is her name?

"Dang, Pearl, you really are his favorite!" Amethyst slaps her cheerfully on the back. Pearl doesn't reply. "Uhh...Pearl?"

She looks over at Pearl and the taller gem is sniffling, wiping tears (and also icing) out of her eyes with the softest smile Amethyst has seen on her since Rose was around. Without warning, Pearl is walking back over to Steven, picking him up and spinning him around with a loud laugh.

"You're too much, you know that?" She says, voice hoarse, and Steven's making that blessed little giggling sound again. "You tiny giggle machine."

She slides a finger on the top of his slice of cake to get some icing, and swipes it across his nose playfully. He goes cross-eyed trying to look at it, and all of them are laughing, the gloomy mood completely forgotten. 

That tended to be what Steven did. Brought the best out of them all, made them almost forget their worries and grief. 

Gems were essentially immortal, and all three of them had lived for so long already. Gems grieved, and their grief could last for decades, but maybe...with Steven with them, it would make the process easier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (if i got any baby stuff wrong, ill just say its bc steven is half gem ok. ITS NOT BECAUSE I KNOW 0 ABOUT BABIES I S WEAR)

**Author's Note:**

> man i wish i could make steven laugh or smth but can babies even laugh at that age? i feel like they cant bUT I WISH THEY COULD I WANT STEVEN TO GIGGLE AND PEARL TO LOSE HER SHIT 
> 
> this fic is gon be short and sweet! i figured it'd go like this
> 
> chapter one: steven at 2 months old
> 
> chapter two: steven at 10 months old
> 
> chapter three: steven at a year and some months old
> 
> chapter four: steven at 4-5 years old
> 
> chapter five: steven at 8 years old
> 
> and i might stop there!! or edit the ages!! but for now thats the plan :DDD


End file.
